Letter: We need leadership as well as fast trains

Tuesday, Dec. 11, 2007 | 7:07 a.m.

The "Intelligence Report" feature in last weekend's Parade magazine asked the question: "Should we invest more in trains?" Ninety-seven percent of the respondents answered yes.

Because of the increasing time involved in air travel, not to mention the safety concerns, perhaps it is time to build a continental high-speed rail system. In the 1950s the government built a highway system that serves us well.

Just think what the cost of the Iraq war would have paid for, with money left over, in providing a system of 300 mph trains on the order of the highly successful high-speed trains in France and Japan.

In the 1860s and the 1870s America built the first transcontinental rail system, which allowed America to be truly united. We need that kind of bold approach today to bypass our saturated air travel system. Just maybe the next president could advocate a plan like John F. Kennedy's proposal that America land a man on the moon by 1969.

We truly need a president who has the vision to lead in all areas to make America great once more. That is why the next election in 2008 is so important.

Claude Woodroof, Henderson